Police in Kisumu have arrested a middle-aged man who caused a commotion at the roundabout located on Oginga Odinga Street.
The man circled the roundabout and even reversed, inconveniencing other motorists on Wednesday afternoon.
When occupants of a Toyota Land Cruiser attempted to stop him, he got angry and rear-ended the Land Cruiser several times. In the process, he wrecked his station wagon.
The angry driver did not know that the occupants of the Land Cruiser were police officers in civilian clothes.
One of the officers hopped out of the Land Cruiser and fired at the motorist's tyres, deflating them. The loud gunshot sounds forced pedestrians and other road users to flee in different directions.
The angry motorist, thereafter, reversed and sped off on deflated tyres.
Angry Kisumu motorist rams police officers' Toyota Land Cruiser in the CBD; a policeman hops out of the Land Cruiser and shoots in the air, forcing the aggrieved motorist to flee. pic.twitter.com/sOgZ2yv0Av - The Standard Digital (@StandardKenya) August 17, 2022
He was, however, cornered several metres away and arrested.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the road rage, though a police officer who spoke to The Standard suspects that the man was depressed.
"He wasn't drunk during the incident," the police officer said.
Fredrick Opopa, a boda boda rider, told The Standard that he noticed that something was wrong when the arrested motorist circled the roundabout several times without exiting.
"Definitely something was amiss. No driver in his right mind would circle the roundabout multiple times, park dangerously and reverse," said Opopa.
The suspect's damaged car was towed to Kisumu Central Police Station, where was held in custody.
Kisumu Central Sub-County Police Commander Anthony Maina said the suspect was later taken to the hospital for mental assessment.
"We've tried questioning him and he isn't saying a word," Maina told The Standard.
Later said it taken note of a video circulating on social media involving a motorist in a saloon car deliberately and repeatedly rear-ending a white Landcruiser vehicle at a roundabout.
Said its statement: "NPS confirms that the incident occurred in Kisumu this afternoon where a renowned advocate severally rear-ended the police LandCruiser on patrol duties within the city.
This unfortunate action, which was conceived to be an act of terror led to a swift reaction by the police who promptly demobilized the vehicle by deflating its tyres. The motorist was arrested but found to be psychologically unwell and taken to hospital by police for further treatment."
